From killing machines to agents of hope: the future of drones in Africa

The original story was published in The Guardian on 27 July 2016. Written by Zoe Flood. To read the complete story, click here.

Mentioned in The Guardian,

“Matternet is working on a project with UNICEF in Malawi, to develop a project using UAVs to carry blood samples from infants born to HIV-positive parents, underscoring the physical and geographical challenges that are present across much of the continent.”

Patrick Kamzitu, a frontline health worker who covers 12 villages and nearly 8,000 people living near the town of Nambuma in west Malawi shares

“It could save so much time and money. If we could be trained to use it, it would also save many lives. At the moment we rely on motorbikes going to Lilongwe (capital of Malawi) but sometimes there is no fuel and the roads are impassable”

After the preliminary results of this project, UNICEF suggests that this technology has a potential to extend not just for health but also for farming, emergencies, and other humanitarian needs – and not just for Malawi.

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